Improvement in self-acting mules



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UNITED STATES `PATENT EEICE.

JAMES SUTHERLAND, OF EAST HAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-ACTING MULES.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,8529, dated July 31, 1866.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES SUTHERLAND, of East Hampton, in the county of Hampshire and State ot" Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self- 'Actin g Mules; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which `will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to` the accompanying drawings, forming a part ot' this specification, in which- Figure l is a side View of a portion of a selfactin g mule with my improvement applied. Fig 2 is a sectional view of my improvement on the line .r of Fig. 8. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the improvement. Fig. 4 is a crosssection on the line y of Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to control the follower or faller-wire automatically in selfacting mules, so as to prevent the yarn from becoming slack and from kinking when the carriage strikes in.`

The invention consists in the use of an airpump, from which air is permitted slowly to escape before a piston that is driven forward by the force of the same spring or other power which carries the faller-wire upward toward the top of the spindles on which the spun thread is wound.

In thisillustration of my invention I have shown only those parts of a mule that are necessary to be shown in order to explain its construction and operation, comprising a portion of the head and an outline view of the carriage.

The letter X designates a roving bobbin, andiY drawing-rollers, between which the yarn passes to spindles b in the carriage A. The rail A of the mule-head, which supports the drawingfrollers, has attached to it, about the middle of its length, a standard, Z, which supports in an upright position a hollow cylinder,

E, whose lower end is left open, and its upper end closed by a valve, O, resting on its top over orifices U, made through its upper end. Said valve is hinged at its right-hand side, observing Figs. l and 2, between forks made in the upper end of a standard, M', that rises from the right-hand side of the cylinder. T is a piston that works in said cylinder, its piston-rod F extending downward through the open end of the cylinder, through a bracket, W, that extends horizontally from the standard Z to a table, G, to which its lower end is fastened, so that said table and piston-rod and piston move together. The lower part of the standard Z has a vertical opening, c, through which the table G extends, so as to overlap the elongated side of a nut, G', that travels on the vertical screw-rod R, the said elongated side of the nut being conned within said openin g c, in order to compel it to ascend and descend according to the direction in which the screw is turned. The lower end of screwrod It turns in a bracket, a, that projects from the rear of standard Z, the upper part of the rod, which is smooth, going through a guidingbracket, a. The top of the rod carries a gearwheel, Q, which is engaged by a series of teeth. formed on the adjacent face of a ratchet-wheel, L, whose shaft has bearings inthe ends of arms e e, which project from the back part of the standard Z, at its upper end.

The ratchet-wheel is operated by a pawl, K, consisting of a rod suspended in an upright position from a bracket, d', a spring, N, that is iixed around the upper part of the pawl and rests on the bracket, serving to restore the pawl to its normal position after every action thereof upon the ratchet. The lower end of the pawl is kept engaged with the ratchet by means of a spring, V, and is prevented from becoming displaced by means of a finger, f, that extends downward from said pawl between the brackets e, the finger being curved so as to clear the ratchet.

On the opposite side of the cylinder from the place where the valve O is hinged rises a standard, M, which serves as the fulcrum of a lever, I, that rests on the top of the valve O. The right-hand and longer end of this lever extends over and rests on the top of a tripping-rod, H, which is suspended by a pin, S, on a bracket, d, through which it passes, on the opposite side of the cylinder from the pawl and ratchet. The lower end of the tripping-rod H passes through the outer end 01E the bracket W, before mentioned. The valve O is held down by the gravity of the lever I, and when said lever has been raised clear of the valve by the tripping-lever the spring N, in raising the pawl, also brings the lever down again to its place. The adjustment of the lever with respectto the valve and the top of the trippingrod H is effected by means of a screw, J, that goes through the longer arm of lever I and rests upon the joint of the valve, or it may rest upon the standards M. If the lever I is lifted off the valve the valve is kept down only by its gravity, and the height above the valve to which the lever is raised determines the amount of play allowed to the valve and the extent to which its air-passages U are uncovered. The carriage A is represented as having completed its run out, the counter faller-wire D having been depressed, and the faller-wire C being about to be depressed, in order to allow the yarn spun during the running out of the carriage to be wound upon the spindles.

The rock-shaft h, to which the faller-wire C is attached, has, at about the middle of its length, an arm, B, whose place is directly in line with the table G of the piston-rod F.

Thefaller-wire C is depressed in the usual way, automatically, by devices not here shown, and is returned to its higher position by a spring, g, which, being attached to an arm that extends from the rock-shaft, partially rotates that shaft to raise the faller, and in elevating the faller-wire raises also the arm' B. This action of releasing the faller-wire C and allowing it to be raised by the spring g takes place when the carriage has completed'its run inward and the spun thread has been wound on the spindles.

'Ihe too rapid rise of the faller-wire at the time the carriage strikes in leaves the yarn slack until the carriage starts out again, thus giving the yarn an opportunity to kink.

In hand-mule spinning lthe follower or fallerwire is controlled by the hand of the operator, who raises it gradually and holds it, so as to keep the yarn straight until the mule starts out, or at the point where the yarn has sufficient tension put on it to prevent it from kinking, when the wire is suddenly released and allowed to iiy up. If the wire was not removed by being fully raised at the proper time the yarn would wind around the tops of the spindles, and thus break the ends down; but in self-acting mules the proper control of the wire, so far as I am aware, has not been hitherto attained, the devices employed therefor not being able to realize the results obtained by the human hand, and therefore fine numbers are not suocessfullyor profitably spun on such mules.

My improvement is intended to supply this defect in self-acting mules and prevent the kinking of the yarn by controlling the fallerwire during its upward movement, automatically, in the following manner: The inward movement of the carriage brings the arm B beneath the table G, when the force of the spring g will be exerted in raising the piston in the cylinder, and will, consequently, be more or less counteracted by the resistance of the air therein. The air is allowed to escape slowly before the piston through the air-passages U in the closed end of the cylinder, the lever I being so adjusted by its screw J as to allow' the valve to leak by being slightly raised ol its seat by the pressure of the air below it, and consequently the piston is permitted to rise slowly before the force of the spring g, the faller-wire rising at the same speed. When the table G reaches the foot of the tripping-rod H that rod is raised off from the valve, which is then allowed to open fully before the pressure of air in the cylinder, which air will have become somewhat compressed, according to the rate at which the piston is forced upward and the amount of leakage allowed to the valve. When the lever I is raised off the valve by the tripping -rod H the shorter end of that lever is caused to force downward the pawl K, and so turn the ratchet-wheel L, which, through the gears P and Q, rotates the screw B, and causes the nut G to rise on the screw, so that when the piston is allowed to fall by the withdrawal of the arm B on the next outward movement of the carriage, it will not go to a position as low as that which it occupied before, because its table G will be arrested by the nut G. These movements are repeated each time the carriage reaches the head-stock of the mule, the rising of the nut G bringing the table G nearerto the foot of the trippingrod, so that the point to which the piston descends, and consequently the time during which the faller-wire G is restrained by the slow upward movement of the piston, are gradually lessened, according to the height attained by the cap.

The pawl K is raised by the light spring N so soon as it is relieved from the force which depressed it.

'Ihe mechanical devices by which my invention canbe Acarried out can be changed and modified without departing from the principle of my invention, so long as the resistance of a body of air is used to control and resist the ascent of the faller-wire, and so long also as the stroke of the piston is lessened automatically in the act of releasing the valve.

It will be observed from the construction and operation of my improvement that when the lever I is tripped and raised off the valve the latter isallowed to give way before the pressure below it, when the sudden escape of air from the cylinder will permit the piston to ascend rapidly before the arm B, and consequently the fallerwire, being thenceforth unrestrained, will perform the rest of its ascent with rapidity, so as to allow the yarn to rise over the ends of the spindles, in readiness for the next running out of the carriage.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. Controlling the ascent of the faller-wire in spinning machines by the resistance of a body of confined air, substantially as above described.

2. In combination, tbe cylinder E, having1 l tion with the piston, Whose stroke is shortened its lower end open and a valve applied to its upper end, the leverI, and the arm B, projecting from' the shaft of the feller-Wire C, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the tripping-rod H with the piston T, table G, and the arm B of the faller-Wire shaft, substantially as described.

4. The screw-rod R and nut Gr', in combination with the tripping-rod H and lever I, substantially as described.

5. The screw-rod R and nut G', in combinaby the rising of the nut,'substantiall v as described.

6. The combination of the arm B of the faller- Wire shaft with the tripping-rod H and lever I, substantially as described.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 23d day of January, 1866.

JAMES SUTHERLAN D.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, GUsTAvE DIETERICH. 

